The external audits follow internal audits against checklists. It is hoped that institutions will carry out their own internal quality control mechanisms based on the training and frameworks adopted. So far no institution has really succeeded in this area. The Quality Assurance Framework currently available is very detailed, but still open to improvement.
Last week ,Issues noted that a major challenge before Botswana lies in improving the quality of staff in tertiary institutions. One way to do this is through links. Examples of creative links already in place are those between GIPS and Greenwhich University in the UK and between a proposed technical institution in Gaborone and Algonquin University in Canada.

In many ways, the traditional concept of a university is under siege. Links, both within the country and overseas, are part of this change. The underlying tenet of the new Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) at Palapye, is the establishment of public-private partnerships (PPPs). 

Traditional universities have always been assessed on their research, teaching and service. In the future, a key aspect of this community service will include income-earning activities. This third pillar could be called "enterprise".

The entrepreneurial aspect of tertiary institutions is usually assessed by looking at the number of patents it holds. If staff are creative, then their research results in innovations that lead to registered patents; this is a sign of the success of the "Enterprise Pillar". Until recently, no tertiary institution or a staff member in Botswana could claim a registered patent.

As the new Faculties of Engineering and Health Sciences at the University of Botswana take off, one could anticipate greater accomplishments across this pillar. It certainly will be anticipated for BIUST, but this may not occur until the next decade, when that tertiary institution is fully established. It will be interesting to see how BIUST develops its links with industry, because it has to move into an environment that lacks what could be found in Gaborone or Francistown. Obvious solutions will be found if BIUST looks beyond the boundaries of the nation and thinks and operates both regionally and globally.

Perhaps BIUST may utilise the opportunity to be the first to establish a University Press. Botswana spends tens of millions of pula a year importing books and teaching materials for its tertiary students, something that is crying out for local participation and quality import substitution.

The institutions that establish an effective academic press will have a head start in this field. It is worth noting that it was Books Botswana, with the support of the British Council, that ran a literary competition and published five books by local authors this year.

The University of Botswana as a national institution, teaching literature since its startup, could have done this before now. This is just one example of how tertiary institutions will have to become more multitasking, or "Poly" rather than "Uni" in their approaches.

Soon the original six colleges of education will be amalgamated, with the existing branches, autonomous, with their own Council, and operating campuses. These campuses are likely to look the same in the future. One could expand to adequately serve the needs of supplying future primary school teachers (unless amalgamation develops approaches where primary and secondary school teachers have greater equality in status and salary, and in training).

It is possible that three of the existing colleges of education could alter their objectives to include the training of Early Childhood and Care Education (ECCE) teachers at one of them, given the fact that Botswana is behind in pre-school education for the majority, a goal of the African Union and SADC, and taking on in-service training at another and special education at the third.

We haven't touched on culture, but the development of music, art, dance, drama and dance should not be left just to the Botswana Society of the Arts.